Gallery: Elmore Field Days 2013

Premier Victorian agricultural field days celebrates its 50th birthday with special commemoration publication, vintage tractor parades, and a special appearance by Victorian Premier Denis Napthine.

The Elmore Field Days 2013 was held from October 1-3 and was expected to attract over 40,000 visitors over three days.

More than 600 exhibitors signed up to display their equipment and services. According to the organisers, sites were booked out much earlier than normal this year with enquiries from new exhibitors being the strongest in years.

Elmore and District Machinery Field Days President David Trewick says a combination of factors this year will make the event another successful one.

"Irrigators have dam that are close enough to full, our crops will have had a good start and the price outlooks for most rural commodities especially livestock and grains are looking positive," he says.

"The recent fall in the Australian dollar exchange rate has also revived our export market opportunities, so on a whole we are anticipating another positive year."

"I am sure that everyone who attends Elmore this year will leave feeling that they have learned something new with the potential to add value to both their lifestyle and rural business endeavours."

This year also marks a special milestone for the field days as the event celebrates its 50th year. To celebrate the occasion, the committee has published and released a special edition book – Community Involved- The First 50 years of the Elmore Field Days available for sale to all visitors.

A vintage tractor parade was also held every day of the event, in addition to a commemorative display exhibit with visual snapshots of the field days’ history.

This year, the field days was graced by the presence of new Victorian Premier Denis Napthine, who was invited to open the event.

In his speech, Napthine recognises the Elmore field days as not only one of the best in Australia but also in the world to address upcoming agricultural challenges.

"Indonesia alone has expected there will be a 60 to 70 million additional people in the consumer class in the next 20 years and they will be looking to Victoria and Australia to provide them with clean, green agricultural production," he says.

"We are well placed here in Elmore, Victoria to supply to that Asian market."

Awards were also presented to the best machinery on display, which is divided into three categories: The Weekly Times Australian Machine of the Year, the Weekly Times Imported Machine of the Year and the Telstra Award for Technology and Innovation.

The first Elmore field days was held in October 1964 at the Aysons Reserve on the Campaspe River but has since moved to the Elmore Events Centre from 1989 onwards.

View the picture gallery above and stay tuned for videos to come very soon.